Remember when most people lived in the same town they grew up in? Generations of families went to the same high school, lived within minutes of each other, and knew local business owners by name.

This likely describes how your community used to be. However, as you’ve noticed, times have changed. The average distance between a primary planner and their loved one who passed away is about 179 miles, with some families separated by over 1,000 miles.

Which means when a death occurs, families aren’t always able to drop everything and travel to your funeral home for an in-person arrangement conference.

So, how do you stay connected with families who live out of town and can’t come in right away?

Enter Planning Center. This tool allows you to offer a blended experience for families to plan online while still receiving the personal care only you can provide.

In this article, explore ways you can use Planning Center to connect with out-of-town families and make the planning process smoother for everyone.

1. Collect case information

Gathering vitals and other key details is an important step in the planning process. But when families can't come into your funeral home, getting everyone’s input can be tricky (and let’s be honest, someone’s Wi-Fi is always cutting out on Zoom meetings).

With Planning Center, families can log in and enter information about their loved one right away. They can even invite other family members to collaborate. That way, everyone’s voice is heard, and you get the information you need.

Here are a few features in Planning Center that make it easy to collect information:

• Self-started cases: Families can upload vital details that sync directly to the case in Passare.

• File sharing: No more Dropbox disasters. Families can upload photos and videos directly to Passare.

• Merchandise pinning: Families can browse your offerings and pin items they’re interested in, so you can tailor your recommendations when they meet with you in person.

2. Plan the service

Once you’ve collected the basic case information, it’s time to start planning the service. But when families live far away and are juggling busy schedules, it can be hard to coordinate a meeting time to plan. Then throw in each family members' unique ideas and expectations for the service, and planning can be quite the challenge.

Planning Center can help with all that and more! With the help of several features, the platform makes it easy for families to collaborate, no matter where they are.

Here’s how:

• AI obituary writer: Families can use AI to generate a personalized and meaningful first draft quickly.

• Collaborative editing: You can have multiple family members contribute to the obituary, and everyone, including you, sees updates in real-time.

• Checklists: Families can view your checklists to see what's been done and what's next.

• Messaging: One centralized place for communication keeps everyone on the same page and makes it easy for families to ask you questions.

3. Finalize the details

Even after the service is planned, there’s still paperwork, contracts, and payments to finalize. In the past, this meant waiting until the family arrived in town. But if a family can't come in until the day of the service, this can add stress to an already emotional time.

With Planning Center, you can finalize everything before the family walks through your doors. That way, when they do come into your funeral home, you can focus on providing them the best care.

Here are a few features that can help you do that:

• eSignatures: Families can securely sign documents from anywhere. You can even customize signature fields on forms so families know exactly where their signature is needed.

• Online payments: Families can pay with credit card, preneed policy, or life insurance. If they’re splitting payments, they can easily make a payment at any time in Planning Center.  

Don't let distance keep you from serving families.

Some families may need weeks or months before they can gather in one place. Others may simply want to plan everything online. Instead of waiting to get started or playing phone tag, you can use Planning Center to offer the same level of care, no matter the distance.

Want to learn more about Planning Center? Check it out here: Planning Center

Or, get a demo of Passare's case management software and learn how you can better manage your business and connect with families. 👇